Tales Don't Tell Themselves
by akate74u
Summary: Ed is on our side of the Gate. Follows from Conqueror of Shamballa, except with no Al.
1. Into Oblivion

He was single minded, but the doubts creeped into his mind regardless. He would never again see his brother, his friend, or his colleagues. Even those that he had disliked he had eventually grown to respect.

And now he was leaving them all again.

But for what? All that he had loved in Berlin were now gone: Alfons Heiderich, Noah... Why does he have to leave everything behind?

Almost as soon as he asked this question, he answered it again. The Gate needed to be closed for good, and he was the only alchemist with the power. That's why he carefully finished his preperations, resigned to his fate.

He felt the familiar, beautiful surge of energy through his body as he began to pass through the Gate, a pang of regret as he realised this would be the last time he would feel so powerful. No going back now, he whispered, as the remains of the airship floated through.

Edward stumbled out of the utterly destroyed ship, now in Berlin, barely noticing the guns aimed at his head, Noah on the ground holding Alfons's corpse. He sat down next to her, and stroked his friend's lifeless arm, a sob held barely at bay in his throat. His good friend, mimicing his brother almost identically in looks was dead, and his brother may as well be. No. Don't think like that. Al is alive. You kept your promise to him. He's alive and happy. That's all that matters.

"Edward...?" Noah whispered. He sighed and brough his gaze up to meet his, the shadow of a smile on his lips.

Alfons Heiderich's funeral was a large one, graced with both German and gypsy tradition. He would have wanted it this way.

Edward appeared to everyone to be fine, although inside he was still heartbroken. In the time since returning, he had allowed his friend's German counterparts to envelop him in their lives. He became uncle to Mae's and Gracia's daughter after they had wed, and confidant to Noah. He continued his work in science, although more out of habit than in hope of returning to Amestris. The Gate was gone, there was no real way for him to pass through again. He would live and die in this world. The only comfort was that he had fulfilled his promise to his brother, and that kept him going. It gave him the drive to work hard in this world, to try to change for the better as he had tried in Amestris. He worked on people friendly science, avoiding at all costs anything that could be used in war. He even managed to win a Nobel Peace Prize for his research into penicillin.

With his fame and fortune he moved himself and Noah to an English city called Sheffield. Noah travelled all over the country while Edward quietly funded her, using the time he was on his own to study without interruption.

One morning, he was sitting out in the outskirts of the city, clearing his lungs of the smog from the city and drawing the mountains. He had begun to keep a logbook of what he saw in this world, that was different to his own. He fancied that he could take it with him when he found a way home so he could show Al and Winry all the strange things he saw. Even something as normal as the Penines seemed so different to the ones he knew in Amestris. He turned to dip his paint brush in some water, when he noticed someone watching him. He jumped and knocked his water jar over, spilling the contents over his log book.

The someone, a small dark haired girl, giggled and disappeared. Edward sighed in minor annoyance and began shaking out his journal, watching the ink turn the once clear water purple, streaking down the page causing irreparable damage to his drawings. Tucking it away in his bag, he packed his things and stood, his backside aching from sitting on the floor for so long.

"Hey Mister!" Said a sweet voice behind him.

Edward turned and smiled at the child, his annoyance temporarily forgotten. "Hello." He glanced around. "Where are your parents?"

"You have a funny voice, Mister!" She shrieked happily, and darted off towards a cottage Edward had spotted about a half mile down the old road. A woman was there, hanging some white sheets on the washing line. The girl ran up to her and tugged on her dress, pointing in Edwards direction. Edward offered a wave, but the woman simply grabbed her child's hand and pulled her inside the cottage, slamming the door shut behind her.

The next morning, Edward brought a bunch of flowers to the woman's home, to apologise for intruding. When he knocked, the house seemed empty, so he placed the flowers, along with a short letter on the window sill.

The phone rang that evening. He answered it, expecting it to be Maes from Germany - He remembered that Maes daughter, his neice, would be turning 6 soon and he had promised to return to Germany for the party.

"Hallo Maes-" He began.

"Mr Elric?" Said an English women's voice.

"Ah I'm sorry, I thought it would be someone else. Yes, this is Mr Elric, can I help you?"

"Er, I'm Doreen, you left me a letter this morning?"

Edward vaguely remembering leaving his number on the letter. "Nice to finally speak to you! I'm Ed. Listen, I'm sorry about the other day..."

"My husband has pnumonia. I read about you, your work with anti biotics. Will you help me please?" Her voice was desperate.

"I, er, I'm not a doctor, really-"

"You're the only person that can help, please?" Edward sighed and looked over at his shelf, his experimental penicillin wrapped up in a wooden box. He hadn't dared use it on a human subject yet. It was modified, similar in design to the medicines of Amestris. Whether it would work on Earth, he was unsure. But this man could die without his intervention.

"Ok, I'll be there within the hour. Make sure he drinks plenty of clean water in the meantime."

"Thank you, Mr Elric, Sir!" He packed the medicine in his bag, where his journal still rested, his notes blurred but still readable - the comparisons between his world and this. At the end of the day, he thought to himself as he left, Amestris medicine is still medicine.

Edward carefully nursed Doreen's husband that night, injecting him with the medicine and keeping a close eye on his breathing and temperature. He learned that the husband, Erich, was a German immigrant, and a miner, and they relied on his wage to survive, but with his pnumonia he hasn't been able to work. Not only that, but they had not been able to find a doctor who would treat him, due to his German heritage. Edward felt a kinship to this man, living in a strange land and not feeling truly at home.

"Mr Elric?" Doreen said, as Edward listened to Erich's heart.

"Please, call me Ed." He said with a smile.

"Ed... Forgive me, but in your diary, you write about a strange land, Amestris. Where is that?"

He spun round to see the woman holding his journal. She looked apologetic, but also curious. This strange man, with his strange musings and beautiful drawings, who was he?

"Ah..." He regained his composure and smiled cheekily. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I tell storys like the ones you write in here to Emily at bed time. Stories of magic, and good overcoming evil." Doreen kept her gaze lowered at the leather bound journal in her hands while Edward listened. "You must have some stories to tell. I hear you're well travelled."

You could say that again, he thought. Edward began telling her a story, about two brothers who did their best to help people, but were eventually seperated. They tried very hard to see each other again, but they weren't allowed, the gate between them was locked tight.

"Will they ever see each other again?"

He hesitated but said "No." He went back to the sick man, wiping Erich's feverish forehead. "I'm stuck here."

"But you can go back to Germany any day, surely."

"Al is not in Germany. Amestris is..." He stood and walked to the cottage window to look out as dawn broke. "Its another world. It's my world."

"I see." She whispered, although she did not.

"Is it in the sky?" Asked a sleepy voice; Emily, the young girl had awoken and stood quietly at the door while she listened to Edward's story.

He approached her and stroked her hair. "Yes, it's in the sky and far away. And thats why I can't see my brother again." Emily looked sad. "But don't worry, I know Alphonse is thinking about me as much as I think about him. Maybe one day we'll find a way." Ed pushed the thoughts about his brother to the back of his mind to concentrate on Erich, while Doreen left to take care of Emily, leaving the subject alone.


	2. The Great Wide Open

The Great Wide Open

Thoughts of suicide weren't unknown to Edward. The guilt of so many people's deaths, the loneliness of being on the wrong side of the Gate, it all built up into this almost overwhelming weight on his shoulders sometimes. It would come and go, and normally when he would least expect it.

"Happy birthday to you!" The party sang, smiles all round, flashes from a camera, and the joyful screeching of the young girl at the head of the table, her face lit up by the warm glow of the 6 birthday candles on her cake. "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Elysia... Happy birthday to you!"

Edward was in this picture, grinning away as if everything was ok, although whenever he looked at Maes, his heart was saddened in memory of his Maes, the man who was killed in the line of duty, and of his small family who still mourn his death. When he looked at all the happiness in this life, he remembered all the sadness back home.

He sat at the large family table, Maes to his left and Noah to his right, smiling and eating his way through his second slice of birthday cake. He would occassionally nod and chuckle at appropriate parts of the conversation, and indulge Elysia with talk about how grown up she is and how soon she will be looking after her poor aged parents. Maes gushed to anyone who would listen about how beautiful a young lady his baby had become, and Noah listened happliy, fooling herself that these people were her family.

That was harsh, Edward scolded himself for thinking like that. Maes and Gracia invited her with open arms to be part of their family. For all intents and purposes this was her family. The invitation extended to himself, but his own melancholy stood in the way of that.

Before he knew it, the party was over, Elysia was put to bed, and he and Maes were sitting opposite each other at the table, smoking and playing cards, in the soft twilight of the single oil lamp on the table.

"How are things these days, Ed?" Maes asked with a gentle smile. "How does a scientist fill his days after he's won The Big One?"

Edward concentrated on his hand of cards as he spoke. "I've been thinking alot. And drawing."

Maes let out a cheerful laugh, almost too cheerful. "So, not content with just being a scientist, you have to be an artist too!"

"Alot of great scientists were decent draughtsman. Take Darwin for example."

"You study too hard, you know that?" Maes said, shuffling his hand a little, before deciding that he had lost, throwing the hand down on the table. He sat back, crossed his arms and smiled. "Try taking a break. Travel with Noah, see the world!"

Edward silently gathered up the cards into a deck and shuffled them, staring intently into the flame of the oil lamp.

"Now, Ed, I know you like being on your own, recently. And I foolishly allowed you to move to England so you could hide away from everyone who cares about you." Maes was serious now, his voice quiet. "But this isn't healthy." He hesitated. "Would your brother want this?"

"Does it matter what Al wants?" Edward sighed, miserably. "He's not here. He probably doesn't remember me anymore."

Maes glared from across the table. "It's only been 7 years; the boy is not going to forget his brother." A second passed, and Maes' glare returned to his usual cheeky smirk. "After all, from the stories you tell, I doubt your world would let him forget your existence."

"Maybe you're right." They sat in silence for a few minutes, while Edward carefully put the cards away and lit a cigarette. He took a long drag from it and offered it to Maes. He shook his head so Edward took a second drag from it and sat back in his chair. "Elysia is growing up fast, don't you think?" He said, smiling, changing the subject to one that Maes couldn't resist. He half listened, half dreamed of returning home, but he couldn't shake the feeling of sadness that it could only ever be a dream.

That night, Edward dreamed that he was drowning. He struggled to reach the surface, to take a breath of air, but couldn't. He couldn't die like this. He had to see his brother again. He felt his body growing weak, but still he fought against the depth of the water, trying to reach that shimmer of sun light, taunting him with freedom, and air. When his energy was almost completely drained, he gave in and sucked in the dream water. He awoke with a start, the cold sweat on his skin clearly visible in the moonlight. Noah was standing in the corner, clasping her hands to her chest, well aware that she had been caught trespassing in his mind. Again.

"So what does it mean then." Edward asked, a little too coldly, as he lay back again, trying to calm his breathing. Silence. "My dream." He prompted.

"You're overwhelmed - by guilt and sadness."

"I didn't need you to sneak into my room at night to tell me that." Noah crept onto the bed beside him, and held him close. His skin was cool and clammy but she pressed herself against him, warming him with her own body heat. He sighed, his body trembling as he did. He turned to her, allowing himself to be cradled in her arms.

"I'm so sorry, Ed."

Noah returned to England the following week. Edward had decided to stay in Germany for a while, where he could re-read some notes regarding the Thule Society. Surely he had missed something the first time, something to bypass the alchemic powers needed to open the gate briefly, something that would leave no trace and couldn't be used by anyone else in the world. There just had to be.


	3. Diary

It was raining again. It had rained almost solidly for the past week. The rainfall reminded Edward of the river in Resembool bursting its banks, and how Izumi, his teacher, had rescued the town people. He remembered how he and his brother asked for her to train them, and the training itself.

His artificial limbs ached when it rained. Even when he didn't get wet, which he figured was probably all in his mind, but even so. He sat in the warm of the Hughes' sitting room, reading through his pile of research papers, as always looking for the one thing that he had missed, the information that would get him home.

When he had finished what must have been the hundredth read through of the papers, he sighed and stood up to stretch, gently massaging his mechanical shoulder, where it had become really uncomfortable. He missed his automail. It was so much more comfortable, and it worked so much better. These jammed too often, and they were much heavier.

As Edward carefully put away his papers and began prodding the fire back to life, Gracia arrived home from shopping. She was soaked, but Edward doubted that was why she looked so grim. "Is everything ok?" He asked, taking her bags from her and carrying them into the kitchen.

"No." She sighed. "The inflation is getting worse. I could barely pay for this week's food."

As Edward put the shopping down in the ktchen, he felt a pang of guilt that he was living here rent free when they all knew that he had more money. "I won't take no for an answer..." He began as he reached into his pocket, and produced a wad of folded notes.

Gracia hesitated. "Ed, I can't-"

"Please, take it. You know I have more than enough, and its only fair that I pay for my staying here."

She stared at the notes, but finally reached out to take it. "Thank you, Ed." She forced a little smile.

"There'll be more where that come from when I find a way home." He murmered, putting things away for her as she dried herself off. Gracia nodded, preferring not to answer. She did not want him to leave; she felt he was being selfish that he obsessed about leaving them. She had to constantly remind herself that at the end of the day, Edward didn't belong here and he had every right to want to leave.

Edward could feel the tension though. "You know its nothing against you, don't you." He leaned against the counter, hiding his face behind his bangs - his hair being one of the things that after all these years, he refused to change. "I appreciate everything you've done for me, everything you've been for me. But..."

Gracia brushed his bangs to the side, and kissed his cheek, in a very motherly way. "I know, dear. I know." She smiled and shooed him out of the kitchen. "Now, out! I need to get dinner cooked before Maes gets home, and I can't do that with your crowding me."

He chuckled and as he passed through the hall, he caught a glimpse of the rain through the window and decided it was time for a walk. After grabbing his coat and shouting to Gracia that he would be back in an hour, he ventured out into the heavy rain.

Berlin was strange in the rain. The once bustling streets were deserted except for the most determined housewives and the most desperate beggars. The beggars were becoming more and more these days, with the Wall Street Crash seeming to affect Germany more than anywhere else. "Expect the worst inflation seen before in German history" The radio had said, along with hints that a certain someone was gathering up his power again.

Maes had come home one night with the same pin he had worn all those years before, and Gracia had ripped it off his lapel. "They tried to kill Ed, remember? They tried to destroy so much of his, for no other reason than that they didn't understand."

As the weeks went by, Maes was glad Gracia had pulled him out of the Worker's Socialist Party, as it began to become known as the National Socialists, and the Communist Party supporters were being clubbed in the streets by police. Best to keep my head down, look after my family, he had decided.

Edward shuddered at the thought of Maes rejoining them. Thank God for Gracia's sensible influence. He walked through the city, his joints aching in the rain. He wondered what had made him come out here in the first place. There was nothing new, it was just raining. He walked along the River Spree, watching the occassional riverboat. The sound of water was deafening, the rain so heavy, he couldn't see very far ahead.

However, what he could see, above him on one of the higher bridges across the river, was a young woman, leaning over the edge, as if watching the river below her. She was soaked through, and didn't seem to be wearing a coat. Concerned, he approached the bridge, and began climbing up the steps to see if she was ok. She didn't seem to notice him, until he was right next to her. She jumped and looked at him warily.

"My apologies for scaring you." He said with a small bow. "Are you ok?" She looked hagard, thin, as if she hadn't eaten for a while, but familiar. Where had he seen her face before? Was it the just the rain or did she seem to shimmer?She continued looking out over the river, her lips trembling - from the cold? - ignoring Edward completely. Edward shrugged off his coat and placed it over her shoulders, ignoring the protest from his limbs. She seemed to shrink into the warmth.

"I'm Edward, " He began, trying a different tact.

It seemed to work. She turned to him. "I'm Rose." Turning back to the river, she whispered. "No, I'm not ok, my boyfriend is dead." She said it as a matter of fact. There was no emotion in her words. Well, not the emotion you would expect. Maybe she was confused. Maybe this was all just a big coincidence.

"I-I'm sorry to hear that." Edward said, startled by the similarities between this girl's story, and his Rose's story.

"Don't be," she whispered, with a knowing smile, barely audible over the rain. "I know who you are." She was suddenly confident. She took off his coat, and thanked him with a smile. Before he could stop her, she handed him a small book, climbed up over the barrier and fell from the bridge into the river below.

"Wait - !"He leaned over as far as he could, looking for her, hoping there was a sign that she had survived, but he knew this was in vain. The river was far to shallow at this point for someone to survive the fall, even in this rain. She would have hit the bottom with most of the force from the fall.

Edward noticed the few people that were around were beginning to look and point, so he hurried off before he could be questioned by anyone. He wasn't sure what to think, he just wanted to go home. The book weighed heavy in his coat pocket.


	4. On A Wire

Edward sat in his chair next to the fire, the dancing flames reflected in his golden eyes as he stared, his thoughts turning one thing over and over in his mind.

"The barrier is broken."

It had been a week since the girl had plunged to her death and he had acquired her diary. That phrase was one thing that stood out to him. He read into it, looked at it objectively, researched it in every paper he owned, every book that he could get his hands on. The phrase didn't seem to exist in the right context that it was written in here. Alfons had been working on breaking the sound barrier, as one of his milestones for creating rockets that could punch through the Earth's gravity. Could this be related to that?

No, he reasoned. The beginning of the diary was...normal? It seemed to be a generic young woman's diary. Each entry was dated, and it was written informally, as if she were talking to herself about normal things. The first entry was about receiving a beautiful book from her father for her 18th birthday. Whoever "she" is.

But the book suddenly became coded. It was fairly simple to work out, as far as Edward was concerned at least. But it made less sense un-coded.

"The way is clear."

But the part that really disturbed him was a drawing. Or what seemed to be a drawing anyway, except that it was drawn in a jumble of letters and symbols. It seemed to create a large circle, with symbols that he recognised.

It reignited a hope in him that he struggled to keep below the surface. He had to approach this scientifically. What if this was a trap by some homunculus remaining on Earth? Or just a 'coincidence'. Who was "she" and why did she give him this book?

He was snapped out of his trance like state by Maes who had looked over his shoulder in passing at the page the book was open at.

"So, you've found a way home?"

"No..I don't know. Maybe." Edward sighed, rubbing his tired eyes with his flesh hand. "I don't know what this means." He closed the book and put it away with his work. "A girl gave it to me, a girl who reminded me of someone back home."

Maes sat down by Edward. "So tell me about her, maybe I can dig something up that might help?"

Edward shook his head, remembering how the girl had plunged into the river. "No, she's dead now."

"Oh?"

"She...fell into the river. After she handed me this book." Maes watched Edward carefully.

"Really. The Spree?" He asked. Edward nodded, sadly. Maes stood up again, turning away from Edward, trying desperately to remember anything he could have heard that would relate to this. If someone had "fallen" into the Spree, he would know about it.

Edward stood suddenly. "What do you know?" He demanded. "Who was she?"

"That's just it, Ed." He turned to face his friend. "No one has fallen into that river recently. You know I would have had to investigate that, or at least heard about it." They both looked over at where the book rested on the table. "Whoever gave you that did not fall into the Spree."

"Are you sure? Maybe she survived and climbed out?" Edward knew he was clutching at any chance to explain this away.

"No one fell into the river. There's been no reports."

Edward sat heavily in the chair, stunned. "I need to think."

Maes nodded, disturbed for his friend. He sat by him, smoking a cigarette as he watched the flames dance, reflected in the young man's staring eyes. He looked back at the fire itself, uttering a silent prayer to whatever being could be doing this, hoping for Edward's sake that he was finally onto something useful. "Please, he's just a boy, still. Let him go home and have his childhood before he really is too old."

Edward began to rent a small house close to the Hughes' family home, so that he could experiment in privacy. This house was chosen because it had a large basement with lighting installed. Every now and then, Gracia would visit to drop off some food, and pick up anything that Edward needed doing, such as washing clothes. He was so into his work that he forgot most of the domestic aspects of life, only doing what was necessary – a few hours sleep, the occasional plate of food from Gracia, and bathroom breaks. He occasionally felt a pang of guilt that Gracia, on top of her family duties, was looking after him, but he reasoned he would pay her back in full. As soon as he had figured this out, found a way home, he had a plan as to how he could set up the family for good with his savings.

The human transmutation circle drawn on his basement floor in the traditional chalk was creepy at best. He hadn't seen the shapes and runes for 7 years, and every time he had seen them, something bad had happened. It took him more courage than he thought he had to be able to draw it out, even though he knew that simply using it like he would have in Amestris wouldn't work here.

"This book should hold the key to making this work." He murmured to himself. The one thing that really worried him was that there was no mention of equivalency. He knew that it was always there, in some form of another. Even for something that most alchemists never even thought about – Energy. Alchemic reactions take a lot of energy, they all knew that, but where did this come from? In this world, they worked toward nuclear fusion for energy. It was not perfected, but it was their dream. Clean, renewable energy. However, they could not make the reaction happen without a huge amount of energy which so far was only obtainable through dirty energy. Alchemists could do this almost without effort, but why?

The Gate had told him. The energy for his world's alchemy came from this world's tragedy.

What made this exchange equivalent? What would Truth take from him this time?

Somehow, Edward didn't care. Just a few more preparations and he could be home. No matter what happened, he just didn't want to be alone again.


	5. All Hands on Deck

The storm was approaching. The clouds loomed over, people stayed indoors. It was eerily quiet, as if waiting for something to happen.

Edward had studied the house he was renting carefully. He knew exactly where the plumbing and electricity was below the house. He knew this for the entire road that the house was on. He had to make sure there would be absolutely no collateral. He could not live with any more deaths on his conscience.

"What will happen when you use that thing?" His friend, Maes, had asked one evening, as Edward studied the battered diary once again in the Hughes' sitting room. Maes looked over the young man, his blonde hair tangled, and his chin fuzzy with the beginnings of a beard recognisable to Maes and Gracia. Whenever Edward was preoccupied with something important, he always forgot to shave.

Edward looked up, his golden eyes burning wildly. "I...I don't know."

Maes knew he hadn't even considered the repercussions for his neighbours yet. Edward had told him most of his adventures since the Gate had been closed in Berlin. Trouble followed Edward wherever he went, he just hoped that he would remember that whatever he did, it would permanently affect those around him.

"We aren't an existence in your dream. We're real." Since that evening with Maes, what Alfons had said to Edward echoed around his mind, and he had done everything that was within his power to protect those around him.

Sitting in his basement, Edward read the diary once more, making sure he had taken care of every detail. Satisfied, he snapped it shut and looked out over the chalk marks in front of him. In the centre of the circle was a box.

He understood part of the equivalency now. He knew what he was supposed to use.

"Water, 35 litres. Carbon, 20kg. Ammonia, 4 litres. Lime, 1.5kg. Phosperus, 800g. Salt, 250 g. Niter, 100g. Sulphur, 80g. Fluorine, 7.5g. Iron, 5g. Silicon 3g. And trace amounts of fifteen other elements."

Edward stood and walked around the circle inspecting it, the ethical implications plaguing him.

"Water, carbon, ammonia, lime, phosperus..." He was about to create a life to give it to the Gate. It would be created, and then decomposed. That would open the Gate. As for passing through...

"...Salt, Niter, Sulphur, Flourine, Iron..." Who knows what the Gate would take in payment.

"...Silicone...et al." Edward took a deep breath, pushing his fears back. Whatever it was, it would be worth it, to be home. He pulled on a large coat trench coat, given to him by Maes, and put the photos Gracia had given him in the deep pockets. He turned to a desk that was pushed against a wall in a corner of the basement, and picked up a book that lay there. This was newer than the others that were collecting dust; the ink from Noah's pen still fresh on the pages. She had forbid him from reading it until he got home.

"It'll make sense then. I hope." At the time, Edward had merely nodded, and hugged her, bidding her farewell before he left them. He had wondered very briefly what was in the book, but he was distracted by the work he had to do and didn't dwell on it. Now he fingered the soft leather cover, smooth against his flesh fingers. He placed it slowly in alongside the photos. The weight was reassuring. When he got home, he'd know he wasn't dreaming because he'd be able to feel this heavy book, and then read whatever it was Noah wanted him to know.

"Maybe she loves me," He mused out loud. The sound of his own voice echoing off the stone walls in the basement calmed him. "This is real, I'm going home." He knelt at the circle, memories of being able to clap his hands and make wonderful things happen, flashed before his eyes, the feeling of energy in his body welling up and flowing through his hands into whatever material he was transmuting.

Edward placed his hands on the circle and felt that familiar energy flow through him, exciting him. As it hit the circle, it lit up blue, the energy flowing through the air whipping his hair around his face and causing papers to fall off his desk in the corner. He stared intently at the object in the middle of the circle as it morphed in front of him. He felt the Gate presence tugging at him, seeing what he had to give for this sin he was committing. He redirected the energy through the circle, to decompose the being he had just created. As it hit, there was a flash of light.

Then he was staring at the Gate in the white void. _How good to see you again,_ whispered Truth in his mind as the Gate began to open.

"Bring me home. Take whatever you want, just bring me home." Edward said to the whisper.

_Oh I see what you did there, very 'smart'_. He could hear the smirk in the whisper. The Gate reached out to Edward, pulling him through. He didn't resist and just hoped it would work. _You ruined all the fun. But no matter, I'll make my own._

The familiar surge of knowledge flowed through Edward as he was dragged through the Gate. All of his memories were flashing before his eyes, as if he were about to die. Of course, Edward had felt death before, this didn't feel like that. It felt like his mind was dissolving, as if every memory was being forced to the front of his mind and then dissolved, popping like a bubble. He mentally grabbed at each one, trying to keep them in his mind.

_Must remember...Winry's face...Al...Rose...Mustang...Riza..._He chanted their names in his head, the sensation in his mind becoming painful, searing his mind with its aggressiveness. The pain became so unbearable, he wished for it to be over, to die, something to stop this happening.

And then there was nothing. He could see and feel nothing.

Little by little, his body became aware of sensations. He could hear his breathing, slow but steady. He was lying down, he could feel...dirt? under his back. His hair tickled his neck. He could feel a weight against his right leg. He felt around but couldn't feel his left leg or right arm. In a panic he sat up and opened his eyes, feeling himself for any damage, but not really sure why he was doing it. He stared at his battered prosthetics. The panic rising in him, making him shake. It was daylight; he was out on a dirt road in the country side. He could see trees and hills, and a house a short way down the road.

But where was he? He couldn't recognise anything. As is took this in, he began to realise he didn't recognise himself. Who was he? What just happened?


End file.
